Fight Path: How a mosh pit eventually led Andria Caplan to the "M-1: Breakthrough" card

Andria Caplan was barely aware of mixed martial arts when she and her brother took their passion for the band Biohazard to Philadelphia’s Trocadero Theatre about six years ago.

A music enthusiast, Andria had even played bass in a high school band with friends, and the group was one of her favorites.

“We went crazy in the little pit every time we heard them,” Andria told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com).

That night, though, her life would change and lead to a new passion. That’s because one of the bouncers working the club that night was Sam Caplan, a dabbler in kung fu and MMA who was on the verge of his own MMA career, though his veered toward the editorial, marketing and promotions end of the business.

Sam remembers the pit quite well.

“I saw her throwing around these guys,” Sam said. “We just watched her, and we were shocked.”

They spent more time together that night, married a year later and have since formed one of the premier MMA families in Philadelphia. Andria, who trains extensively at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu United in the city, will open the MMA portion of her martial arts career when she faces champion boxer Molly Ahlers-Estes in the preliminary card at “M-1: Breakthrough” on Aug. 28 in Kansas City.

Andria, 31, serves as an example of an MMA fighter who hasn’t hesitated because of age or gender. Even though she wasn’t involved in a sport natural to an MMA transition as a youth – she participated in swimming and soccer as a kid – and she didn’t begin the training in her teens, Andria has jumped forward into competition and even thirsts for a professional career for as long as her body can take it.

Like some fighters, Andria didn’t have the same passion or focus for a single aspect of her life until the self-described tomboy started taking kung fu classes following her mosh-pit meeting with Sam. She has found that passion with MMA.

“This is what I want to do for as long as I possibly can,” Andria said. “I want to fight for a living, and I want to do it against whoever I can whenever I can.

She laughed.

“I didn’t get started until a little later,” she said, “so maybe I have a little more beating left in me.”

Tomboy in a blue-collar house

The way she describes them, one wouldn’t want to cross Andria Caplan’s parents.

With a factory-working father who trudged through his duties at night so he could spend time with his kids during the day and a mother who pulled herself through some corporate ranks while going to school at night, Andria and her younger brother learned the self-reliant way of life in Philadelphia.

Doing many “boy things” along with her brother growing up, Andria was athletic as a kid, testing a number of sports. By high school, she became more interested in music, started a band with friends because, frankly, it sounded like fun and picked the bass because, even more frankly, it looked easiest to play.

Following high school, Andria moved from interest to interest. She liked the idea of social working and helping people, but who knew you had to take chemistry classes to earn a degree in the field?

Awhile later, Andria found herself at the Trocadero Theatre throwing male fans around in the middle of the venue to catch Sam’s eye.

“We married five years ago in May,” Andria said.

Sam has made a name for himself in the MMA world as the owner of fiveounceesofpain.com and now as a marketing and public relations specialist with Combat Sports Media. Andria, meanwhile, has moved from kung fu to Muay Thai to jiu jitsu and aches for competition in each.

“I was aware of it,” Andria said of MMA, “but I never thought I would be doing anything like it.”

Meeting a hero, going beyond

It started with encouragement from Sam to try kung fu. After three months, she entered her first tournament.

“I took first place, and I didn’t know anything,” Andria said. “You couldn’t punch anyone in the face, so I just kept punching her in the chest over and over and over.”

The points system didn’t appeal to Andria, so about three years ago, she began Muay Thai. But after awhile she suffered a shin injury and was forced to watch some of her son’s jiu-jitsu classes.

“Once they started talking to 8-year-olds, that’s when I really started to understand it,” Andria said with a laugh. “I fell in love with it.”

Her confidence received a boost in December 2007. She attended the U.S. Grappling Championships as a white belt at 150 pounds. With no suitable competition in her division, Andria moved to the no-gi portion, where two of the competitors were Tara LaRosa and Cynthia O’Rourke.

Since beginning her training, Andria had formed a great admiration for LaRosa, one of the world’s top female fighters with a 17-1 pro record. So it was a surprise to be facing her.

“Andria nearly tapped her out,” Sam said.

LaRosa won 2-0 on points, but Andria’s conviction was duly increased. An ACL tear not long after set her training back, and several scheduled MMA bouts have proven false alarms and never materialized. But it’s all made her even hungrier for her upcoming debut.

“I never knew that I would do this, but then I think, ‘How have I not been doing this longer?'” Andria said. “This is the only thing I’ve ever really, really loved to do. Even when I don’t feel well, I push myself into the gym. When I’m not training, I’m talking about it or thinking about it. I want to do this for as long as I can.”

Award-winning newspaper reporter Kyle Nagel is the lead features
writer for MMAjunkie.com. His weekly “Fight Path” column focuses on the
circumstances that led fighters to a profession in MMA. Know a fighter
with an interesting story? Email us at news [at] mmajunkie.com.

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